Elastic tongue insert for knee guard or brace



May 22, 1956 P. e. STAHLY ELASTIC TONGUE INSERT FOR KNEE GUARD 0R BRACE Filed Dec. 8, 1952 Fig.4

Preston 6. .Sfahl y INVENTOR.

BY mg,

United States Patent ELASTIC TONGUE INSERT FOR KNEE GUARD 0R BRACE Preston G. Stahly, South Bend, Iud., assignor to Ross 0. S. Shook, Hutchinson, Kans.

Application December 8, 1952, Serial No. 324,619

2 Claims. (Cl. 2-22) This invention comprises novel and useful improvements in an elastic tongue insert for knee guard or braces, and comprises subject matter which constitutes an improvement over the prior patent of Shook, Patent Number 2,532,955 of December 5, 1950; and of the co pending application of Shook Serial Number 223,724 filed April 30, 1951, now Patent Number 2,637,575, granted May 5, 1953.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a tongue and an adapter insert for use in the above mentioned knee guards or braces.

A furthher object of the invention is to provide a knee guard or brace construction having a detachable insert member conveniently applicable thereto for adapting the brace to fit different sizes of legs.

A further specific object of the invention is to provide a novel knee guard or brace having a detachable tongue insert therein whereby a relatively few sizes of knee guards may be adapted to snugly and efliciently embrace and fit a large variety of sizes of knees and limbs to be braced.

And the final specific object of the invention to be enumerated herein resides in the provision of an improved knee guard or brace having improved means for firmly, but comfortably attaching the brace to the limb of a person.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure l is an elevational view showing the improved knee guard in accordance with this invention applied to the thigh and lower leg of a person for bracing the knee joint;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view taken from the opposite side of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an elevational view showing the knee guard in its opened position; and,

Figure 4 is a transverse sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by the section 4-4 of Figure 1 and illustrating the manner in which the fastening means of the knee guard and the tongue insert of the same are secured together about the limb of a person.

The guard or brace consists of upper and lower portions or members and 12 respectively, which are adapted to be securely and snugly secured to the thigh and lower limb of a person for bracing the knee joint of the same. The adjacent end portions of the members 10 and 12 are disposed in overlapping engagement and are pivoted to each other by an anti-friction bearing assembly 11 of any suitable construction. The arrangement is such that the hinged or pivoted connection of the upper and lower members lies adjacent the knee joint for bracing the same against lateral displacement by permitting-the knee joint to flex in its usual manner.

The actual construction of the upper and lower members 10 and 12 and the pivoting connection therebetween may conveniently be of the type disclosed and claimed in the prior patent and copending application of Shook, referred to hereinbefore. However, the invention to be hereinafter described is particularly applicable to the guards or braces of the type disclosed in the above mentioned copending application and prior patent, and which type is adapted to be disposed on the inside of the leg or knee joint of a person.

As set forth in the above mentioned application and patent, a pair of plates of steel or any other suitable material are provided which are contoured to comfortably conform to the shape of the thigh or lower leg. In accordance with the present invention these plates are provided with a lining or covering of a suitable pliable material such as leather or the like, the relative position of the upper and lower plates being shown in dotted lines at 14 and 16 respectively in Figures 2 and 3.

The non-adjacent ends of the coverings or linings, that is, the ends remote from the pivot 11, are provided with fasteners whereby these ends of the members 10 and 12 may be removably and securely attached to the thigh and lower leg portion of a person, as shown in Figures 1 and 2. These fastening means comprise lateral extensions 18 and 20 which may form a part of or be fixedly attached to the covering or lining of the upper member 10 at the uppermost end thereof and extend laterally from the same. Similar webs 22 and 24 are integrally or fixedly attached to the non-adjacent or the lowermost end of the lower member 12 for the same purpose. Suitable eyelets 26 are provided in the edge portions in each of these fastening webs whereby the opposite ends of the webs may be secured together as by a lace 28 to firmly attach the same to the thigh and lower leg portion of a person. It is contemplated that a number of standard sizes of the fastening webs may be provided whereby different sizes of legs may be accommodated by a relatively few sizes of braces. In order to insure a resilient, firm and snug fit of the fastening webs about the limbs of a person, one or more of the fastening webs is provided with an elastic portion or panel insert 36, such as the web 18. This elastic insert comprising an expansion segment may be applied in one or both of the upper web fasteners, and/or in one or both of the lower web fasteners as desired as found to be expedient. However, it has been found that a single elastic insert portion 39 in one of the upper fastening webs will be sufiicient.

In order to further adapt a particular size of the leg brace to fit snugly different sizes of limbs, an adapter tongue insert member indicated generally by the numeral 32 and 34 is provided for the upper and lower members 10 and 12 respectively. The tongue insert, 32 or 34, is completely detachable from the coverings and webs, being provided at its opposite sides with end stiffening members 36 and 38 respectively, these members having snap fastener sections 40 which cooperate with snap fastener buttons 42 which are secured to each of the fastener webs 18, 2'8, 22 and 24 adjacent the junction of these webs with the plates 14 and 16. Thus, the pliable tongue inserts may be readily applied to or removed from the fastener webs, as will be clearly apparent from a comparison of Figures 3 and 4.

When properly positioned, the elastic insert constitutes the tongue beneath the lacing 23 to cause the fastener of the upper and lower members to comfortably but securely embrace the thigh and ower leg portion. By using different sizes of inserts, a given size of knee brace can be adapted to comfortably and securely fit different sizes of limbs for reinforcing the knee joint of the same. In using the device, the insert or inserts are secured by their extremities 36 and 38 to the sets of snap fastener buttons 42 in the manner shown in Figure 4. The limb of the person is then inserted throughthe upper and lower members and 12, and through the inserts of the same. With the knee brace properly positioned upon the limb members and the pivot connection of the knee brace disposed at the knee showing, and upon the inside of the leg or" the person, the lace is then securely tightened whereby the guard or brace will be firmly maintained in proper position bracing the knee joint against lateral strains and displacement.

It is evident that the tongue inserts may be readily removed and interchanged as desired.

From the foregoing, the construction and operation of the device will be readily understood and further explanation is believed to be unnecessary. However, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A device for laterally bracing a knee joint at one side only of the same comprising a single pair of upper and lower plates having their adjacent ends pivoted together in overlapping engagement, a fastener secured to the end of each plate remote from the pivot and adapted to encircle a limb adjacent the knee joint for attaching the plates to the limb and positioning the plates at one side only of the limb, each fastener comprising a flexible web attached to the end of a plate and terminating short of the pivoted end thereof and extending laterally from both sides of said plate, an adapter liner insert secured to that surface of one of said fastener webs which is adapted to embrace a limb, whereby said insert will be interposed between the fastener web and a limb, means for releasably securing together the opposite ends of each fastener web, said flexible web extending laterally from opposite sides of said plates, an elastic portion in said webs, said adapter insert being disposed across said elastic portion.

2. A device for laterally bracing a knee joint at one side only of the same comprising a single pair of upper and lower plates having their adjacent ends pivoted together in overlapping engagement, a fastener secured to the end of each plate remote from the pivot and adapted to encircle a limb adjacent the knee joint for at taching the plates to the limb and positioning the plates at one side only of the limb, each fastener comprising a flexible web attached to the end of a plate and terminating short of the pivoted end thereof and extending laterally from bothsides of said plate, an adapter liner insert secured to that surface of one of said fastener webs which is adapted to embrace a limb, whereby said insert will be interposed between the fastener Web and a limb, means for releasably securing together the opposite ends of each fastener Web, said flexible web extending laterally from opposite sides of said plates, an elastic portion in said webs, said adapter insert being disposed across said elastic portion, and across opposite ends of said webs.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 268,794 Heilner Dec. 12, 1882 1,061,697 Sobra May 13, 1913 1,228,113 Hinson May 29, 1917 1,320,207 Colson Oct. 28, 1919 1,357,929 Van Heusen Nov. 2, 1920 2,144,641 Snyder Jan. 24, 1939 2,460,895 Meany Feb. 8, 1949 2,532,955 Shook Dec. 5, 1950 

